One-man boat-launching apparatus for ships



Oct. 27, 1925. I 1,559,534

0. B. OSBON ONE-NAN BOAT LAUNCHING APPARATUS FOR SHIPS Filqd March 1:, 1925 s Sheets-Shoot 1 Jr Tali/75y.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 C. B. OSBON Filed larch 13, 1925 Oct. 27, 1925.

min-um son LAUNCHING APPARATUS FOR SHIPS ..lllllll l .l ll|'\lv llnllr\ Oct. 27, 1925. 1,559,534

C. B. OSBON ONE-IAN BOAT LAUNCHING APPARATUS FOR SHIPS Filed March 13, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Dz venlar:

portion of Fig. 8, and f UNITE ear ear CHARLES B. OSBON, or" soMnavILLE, Massaom'rsnrrs;

ONE-MAN BOAT-LAUNCEING APPARATUS FOR SHIPS.

Application filed March 13, 1925. Serial No. 15,176.

To all 107mm it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES B. OsBoN, citizen otthe United States, residing at Somerville, inthe county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented. certain new and useful Improvements in a One-Man Boat-Launching Apparatus for Ships, of which the following is a specification. My invention relates 'to launching life boats and the like from the deck of a ship boat to the ship however, will probably re-' quire more than one or two men.

The present invention relates more particularly to means for housing and protecting the working parts of myarrangement, as will be more particularly pointed out in the claims.

. I have illustrated my invention by means of the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1, is a horizontal elevation of my device,

Fig. 2, is a view in the perspective of the gears used for acquiring power enough to lift the life boat. and to launch the same,

Fig. 3, are the gears shown in elevation on Fig. 2, r

Fig. 1, are the same showing the gears in different positions,

Fig. 5, is a general view looking down on the lite boat when the same is in the ac of being launched.

Fig. 6, isa horizontal view 01!? the housing extending inboard. w

' Fig. 7, is a view taken at right angles to Fig. 6,

Fig. 8, is a section taken on the line 8'8 ,Fig. 9,'is an elevation showing the winch,

Fig. 10, is an elevation taken at right an' Fig. 18. shows more in imilar to that of Fig.

detail the Slower gears are shown in dif.

Fig. 14,is a modification.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 5, 1 represents the foundation for the davit, laid upon the deck of the ship. Mounted on this foundation is a base plate 2,, which may be a steel plate, as shown, or any suitable base mem be'r to which the actuating parts of the hoisting gear. may be secured. At the outboard edge ot this plate, and fiXed thereto, are bearings 3, and ournalled in these latter are the pivot pins 3 upon and about which the lower end of the davit; swings.

shape elements t inclininginboard and separated a considerable distance at their lower ends The davit consists of two channel and converging as they rise, producing a structure of substantially A-shape. Stiffena and strengthen the channels per end there is pivoted between the chan-;

nels of the davit by meansoflthe bolt 8 a boom 8 which. inclines as it passes down wardly to the operating mechanism. at ap; proximately the same angle from vertical as does the channels of the davit'the two forming together another A-shaped affair,

The description thus far applies to both davits,the one against the bow and the other against stern of the boat. I 1

So as to get fa more comprehensive idea of how the gear train, as shown inFig's..1' V

Fig. 3' shows." diagrammatically those gears used in operating th'ebooin and Fig.1

4.- .those employed in the hoisting of the boatthe two sets'being drawn in separate" figures to more clearly distinguish the-booma Y ing from the hoisting .combinatiomf V I have also shown in Fig. 11 an end ele vation of the completei gear set used for swinging tye boat, lIlOllldlIlgthe bevelgears immediately in connection With-the boom screw. I V

Inthe several figures, 9 re resent flanged plates,,.or they may be flat p ates secured to the base by means of angle irons. The two forms which taken together;form a house gear 17.

ing for the spur gear train seen in Figs. 1, 2, and 5.

1010- are cranks by which the gears are actuated. On the shaft 11 upon which the cranks are secured is a fixed pinion 12, meshing with the gear 13 fixed on the shaft 14 and this gear meshing with the pinion 15 mounted fixedly on the shaft 16the last named shaft having fixed thereon the bevel This train is the one used in swinging the'davits, and a reference to Fig. 6 will show that bevel 17 is in engagement with the bevel gear 18, the latter fixed on the end of the boom screw 19.

Mounted at a spaced distance from the spur gear housing plate 9 and secured by angle irons 20 to the base plate 2, is a tri angular plate 21. On one of the inclined sides of this plate and fixed thereto is a boom guide 22 having a slot 23, Fig. 8 in which the plate 21 is seated and secured by bolts or rivets 21. A T-slot houses the boom screw nut 25; 26 and 27 are bearings, and 2829 are thrust collars for the boom screw 19.

The bearing 27 may be made integral with the boom guide and the bearing 26 is made as a block to fill the T-slot and pinned to the guide by rivets 30.

Projecting outwardly from the boom screw nut 25 is an ear 25 on which the lower yoked end of the boom 8 is pivoted by means of the bolt 31.

T0 laterally brace the plate 21, I attach thereto, by proper angle connections, a gusset plate 32.

It will thus be seen that, by rotating the cranks 10 using the gear train just described the boom screw nut 25 will reciprocate upwardly or downwardly according to the direction in which the cranks are rotating and cause the boom and the davits to swing either outboard or inboard respectively.

It will now be in order to describe the parts connected with the operation of hoisting and lowering the boat; but previous to deing this it will be well to state that the pinion 12 is used incomin'on ing and swinging service. By observing -11 and 12 it will .bein'oticed that the shaft 11 upon which the crank pinion 12 i's'fixed isslidable transversely of the gear housing plates9, or in other words inay he slid back and forth in its bearings. When the pinion is in the train (Fig. 11) which actuates the booinli'ft, there is a spacebetween the crank hub 10 and the housing p (Fig.

plate 9. This space "is filled "when this, particular train is being used, by a latch 33, which fields the pinion 12 meshedwithuthe 13, In like 'inann'er if thegeajr train 12) ntes thewinches which (lathe acne-1 hoisting 0'1" theboat, is "tobe for both hoistput in service, then the latch 33 .is swung off the shaft 11 and the latter pushed to the right, as seen in Fig. 12 and the pinion 12 caused to mesh with the gear 3 1 the latch 33 now being located over the shaft 11 to retain the pinion in its meshed relation to the gear 34.

Assuming at this point that power be applied to the crank 10, then the train of gears, as illustrated in Fig. 1-2, will be set in niotion,the pinion 12 meshing with the gear 34: fixed to the shaft 35. The power is then compounded, i. e., a pinion 36's1naller than the gear 3 f on the shaft meshes with a gear 37 fixed to the shaft 38.

On this shaft 38 is also 'fixed the two winches 39 and 40, the former having the cable 11 wound about it and extending through the block 22, the tube 43, the blocks 44 and 7 and downwardly to the bow of the boat at 1-5. 9

The latter nalned winch 10, actuates the cable 46 which extends from the drum of the winch through the block 17 upwardly through the block 7 and downwardly to the stern of the boat 18.

It will be apparent that in lowering the boat no power need be applied to the gear mechanism but utilize the pinion 36 and the gear 37 in operating niy brake inechanisin, illustrated in Figs. 9 and 10.

1 key the brake druin 4:9 to the shaft 35 on which is also fixed the pinion 36. The winches and the gear 37 are fixed on the shaft 38. This reduction in the gearing 1nultiplies the braking power of the brake drum to a large extent.

Passing partially around the drum 419 is the brake band 50 provided with the usual liner 51, one end of which band is fixed at and the other pivoted to one end 53 of the bell-crank 5 1. The other arm of the bell-crank is pivoted at 55 to the link 56 which connects at 57'with the short arm of the lever 58.

The bell-crank oscillates on the pin 59 and the lever on the pin 60, both pins being fixed in any convenient part of the plates. In performing the lowering operation the lever 58 is unhooked from the notches 63, cut on the edge of the gusset plate 32 and the brake released to the proper extentso that the cables may unwind from the winches.

Should it be desired to hold the boat in any position above the water the pawl 62 may be dropped into engagement with the ratchet wheel 61.

The boat is normally held in position, while on the deck by resting in checks '65, proper lashings being provided for securing'thenrthereto.

IiiiFig. 14L 1 show a, preferabledesign offpa'rtsfto ope-rate the. winch brakes.

I substitute for the lever 53 a connecting rod 66, one end being pivotally attached to the bell-crank at 55 and the outer end threaded and engageable with a nut which form the hub of the hand wheel 67. Bearings 68 and 69 support the wheel, and they are bored the full size of the threaded rod so that the latter may slide through them the booms screws havin rotar mountin adjacent the base of the davits and receiving said nuts, a pair of winches, cables onsaid winches passed over the davits and adapted at their free ends to engage the respective ends of the boat, a single operated shaft, power transmitting mechanism con necting the screws and the operating shaft, other power transmitting mechanisms connecting the winches of said shaft, and means selectively controlling the operation of either of said power transmitting mechanisms when the shaft is turned.

2. A one-man boat launching apparatus, including a pair of pivoted davits, booms pivotally connected to the davits, nuts pivotally connected to the lower ends of the booms, screws receiving the nuts and having rotary mounting adjacent the base of the davits, winches, cables operatively engaging the davits and adapted at their free ends to support a boat, said cables wound on the winches, a shaft, gears operatively connecting the shaft and the screws, a gear train operatively connected to said shaft,

a second gear train operatively connected to the winches, a hand-operated shaft, and means permitting said hand-operated shaft to be operatively engaged with either of said gear trains.

3. A one-man boat launching apparatus, including a pair of pivoted davits,booms pivotally connected to the davits, nuts pivotally connected to the lower ends of the booms, screws receiving the nuts and having rotary mounting adjacent the base of the davits, winches, cables operatively engaging the davits and adapted at their free ends to support a boat, said cables wound on the winches, a shaft, gears operatively connecting the shaft and the screws, a gear train operatively connected to said boat, a

second gear train operatively connected to 1 the winches, a hand operated shaft, means permitting said hand operated shaft to be operatively engaged with either of said gear trains, a brake drum operatively connected to both gear trains, a brake band on the drum, a bell crank lever operatively connected to the brake band, and a plate having a series of notches therein adapted to receive the free end of the brake band therein.

4. In a device for launching life boats on a ship, a fall for lowering the boat over the side, a drum on which said fall is wound, a winch for rotating said drum, a brake band on said drum,ya bell-crank attached to said band, a rod secured to said bell-crank having a screw thread out thereon, a nut engaging said screw thread, a hand wheel secured to said nut, a pair of cylindrical bushings, one on each side of said hand wheel, bearings for said bushings and in line with said bell-crank, stops for preventing said bushings from passing. through said bearings, whereby be tightened or loosened. 1 a

5. A boat launching apparatus for ships by turning said wheel in opposite directions said band may including a base or platform, a pair of davits pivoted to said base and spaced apart, a boom for each davit, said boom and said davit being pivoted together at their respective upper ends, an lnclined screw rotatably pivoted-adjacent to each of said davits, a nut engaging said screw, a triangular shaped casing having a slot on its inclined upper edge within which said nut is de signed to travel for governing said davit, a mitre gear on the lower end of each of said screws, a shaft extending lengthwise of said vessel and rotatable thereon, a mitre gear on said shaft adapted to engage the 'nntre gear on each of said screws, a shaft mounted longitudinally of said boat adjacent to each of said davits, a pair of drums on said shaft, a life boat or the like, a chock for retaining said life boat, a fall leading from each end of said life boat to said davit, and thence to said drum.

6. In a device for launching life-boats on a ship, a fall for lowering the boat over the side, a drum on which said fall is wound,

- means for'rotating said drum, a brake band on said drum, a bell-crank attached to said band, a rod secured to said'bell-crank hav ing a screwthread cut thereon,,a nut engaging said screw threaded rod, a hand wheel s'ecured to said nut, apair of' cylindrical bushings, one on each side of said hand wheel, bearings for sand bushlngs and in line with said bell-crank, stops for prevent-, ing said bushings from passing through said bearings, whereby by turning said wheel in opposite directions said band may be tightened or loosened.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature.

oHaRL-Es B. osBoN. 

